Rugby Leage - Toughest Sport in the world?

[colin]

Just to throw in my tuppence worth, I played hurling and RU until I was 16 and I wouldn't say hurling's as dangerous as RL or RU.

There's plenty of cuts and bruises but rarely the sort of serious spinal and head injuries you'd get in the rugby codes.

I actually had four of my baby teeth smashed in when I was younger by a stray hurley, but that was more down to my own incompetence than the brutality of the sport.

The major problem hurlers get is arthritis in there hands. Everytime they put their hand up to catch a high ball, they're prone to it getting hacked by their opponent trying to hit the ball.

I'd say the Rugby codes and AFL are equally tough in their different ways. You'd have to be brave to run backwards into a 'pack' like those AFL players

 

[Richoagain]

Originally posted by colin

I'd say the Rugby codes and AFL are equally tough in their different ways.

Exactly. The stamina game of AFL is second to none, as are the hits received in rugby league.

Anyway, back to faceless posturing as no one can actually see if we're just weedy, whining geeks or not - I'm just under 7 foot and weigh in at 130kg of pure muscle, baby.

Call me lean if you will, I don't mind.

 

[Iverson]

Hey without a doubt, Boxing is the toughest sport in the world. You get your head banged in every second. How much fun is that

But as far as team sports go it really varies.

- Gridiron
: some of the hits are really fercious. Its mainly those blindside hits. I've seen players literally just throw themselves in the air like a missile and hope to make contact.

- Ice Hockey
: this is a tough one. There are plenty of blindside hits, and because they are on skates they can reach faster speed than on foot. I saw a nasty hit on a mighty ducks player in the stanley cup and he ended up in dreamland. Also the fact that the ice is like cement and players can use sticks are hacking device, I can imagine that there are injuries abound.

- Aussie Rules
: I don't find the tackles that tough really. But again because blindside hits are allowed it can get really ugly. I've seen guys use their hips on players catching the ball, and they have ended up concussed because of it. Also taking those flying marks and lading flat on your back looks pretty tough.

- Rugby League
: Its really all about the tackles. I don't know why but league guys tackle too high. Lots of swinging arms, and lots of high shots. Shoulder charges are allowed and that in itself can be brutal. I've seen some really bad one over the years in SOO, and that would have to be the toughest act in the sport.

- Rugby Union
: Some tackles can be brutal, but the action is really in the rucks. The rucks can be a really bad place at times. Being rucked on by some people when you are at the bottom of the ruck can be painful. Stomping is the worst - if anybody saw what Troy Flavell did to the Wiakato Chiefs hooker earlier this year you know what I mean - he stomped his head while the guy was on the bottom of the maul.

 

[Richoagain]

Originally posted by Iverson


- Rugby Union
: Some tackles can be brutal, but the action is really in the rucks. The rucks can be a really bad place at times. Being rucked on by some people when you are at the bottom of the ruck can be painful. Stomping is the worst - if anybody saw what Troy Flavell did to the Wiakato Chiefs hooker earlier this year you know what I mean - he stomped his head while the guy was on the bottom of the maul.

That looked pretty criminal - particularly as I'm not sure how you repeatedly stomp someone in the face 'by accident'.

 

[Brian]

To that guy about Hurley ,we're talking tough action not crazy .
Both the NRL and AFL have tried hard to clean up their acts and present a clean game .How come they can keep on stomping on the players in a RU ruck ,when the ball is nowhere near ?Occasionally they get a penalty and that's all .

 

[I_LUV_AFL]

Originally posted by Richoagain
People I've spoken to play rugby league in St Helens, England over winter, then Aussie Rules over summer.

They say the biggest problem getting recruits playing Aussie Rules there is that everyone (RL players included) have this idea that it's the most brutal game on the planet and that they'll die in a pool of blood and viscera if they play.

Ha! That is the funniest thing I have seen in a very long time. You can't expect us to believe you....do you?

Oh! and AFL in St.Helens is just as funny! I have never, ever seen a stupider post!!!

I am amazed at how you can expect us to believe this.

 

[Fire Storm]

"I'm 6' , 89 kgs and im not lean, but i consider myself a athlete. youre not skinny Markie, if you are what you say you are, you are medium build, but lean you aint."

And how do you know this FabolousPhil? So a 120kg bodybuilder cant be lean? Idiot.


"Just reread your stupid posts in this thread and stop letting youre biases cloud reality."


Only stating what I know from playing the game Phil. Born in VIC, followed the Swans and hated RL in my early days. Bias? Thats what you think.

Reality? Reality is, AR comes nowhere near RL for toughness. How could it? Completely different game and rules. Dont try to compare them. Get over it.

 

[Richoagain]

Originally posted by Tutaki
Ha! That is the funniest thing I have seen in a very long time. You can't expect us to believe you....do you?

Oh! and AFL in St.Helens is just as funny! I have never, ever seen a stupider post!!!

I am amazed at how you can expect us to believe this.

The messageboard is at www.sthelensminers.co.uk

Are you even willing to look at their website?

Go and ask them. I'm serious.

 

[Richoagain]

I never said it was a correct impression they had, but it is the impression that people have of the game in England, mostly because of the way it was promoted in the eighties on TV.

 

[Ms.Storm]

Richo

Originally posted by Richoagain
The messageboard is at www.sthelensminers.co.uk

Are you even willing to look at their website?

Go and ask them. I'm serious.

Just because a few people might say it, doesn't mean everyone thinks that though.

 

[TigerCraig]

A few yanks I know now living here thought Aussie Rules was the toughest game in the world - because all they knew about it was the old '80's/90's TV broadcasts in the states, which as was mentioned earlier were basically "highlights" tapes of all-in brawls and guys headbutting umpires. They thought that was all that happened for 4 quarters.

When they actually saw the real game they asked me where the fights were.

Having played all 4 codes, I think League is obviously the intrinsically physically toughest, union is incredibly tough for forwards in a different way - the pushing in scrums rather than collisions (I was a prop, albeit only at school level).

Aussie Rules is the aerobically toughest esp. when combined with the hip & shoulder bumps, running into packs etc. Soccer is soft, unless you get idiots trying to break legs.

 

[fabulousphil]

Originally posted by Mark Rudd
[BAnd how do you know this FabolousPhil? So a 120kg bodybuilder cant be lean? Idiot.


[/B]

Well.......... maybe you are lean then...........from your posts its the brain department.

Pull your ears in boofhead.

 

[Ms.Storm]

Nicho

Originally posted by nicko18
true, but aren't you the master of "my friend told me..." and "i heard a guy on 2UE...."

Are you a nervous type?

 

[colin]

I think people think Aussie Rules is anarchy because the images people have of it are of twenty people chasing the ball, one person picks it up, gets slung to the ground, the ball spills loose and the chase continues again etc. It looks like a game without any rules to people who've never seen it before.

BTW I'm 5ft11, 12 stone and wouldn't consider myself tough at all

 

[Richoagain]

I'm usually about 6 foot until I get mad, when I turn green and grow to about 3 times that size.

 

[Fire Storm]

I couldnt care less what is the toughest game anyway.





Either way, I'm the best looking here. No doubts.

 

[Joffaboy]

I have played all four codes at different levels.

Soccer - aerobically and skill wise very difficult. Most enjoyable to play, least enjoyable to watch.

League. - Incredibly tough to play especially first pass off the ruck and continually running into Maori's who never take a backward step. Very very hard on thighs and shoulders (not to mention knees). Enjoyable to play, more enjoyable and less painful to watch.

Union. - Not as physically confrontational as League, more playing the ball than the man, but never was fun getting caught on the bottom of a ruck. Scrummaging much more technical and fairer.
Not a bad game to play, not too bad to watch.
Not as good as League to play (I did play at a much lower level) but much more traditional and tests matches are much more of an occassion to watch.

Aussie Rules - Never been hit so hard in my life. Ribs got smashed, fingers dislocated, nose broken, and knee badly hurt, and that was just in the warm up . Couldn't believe how physical the game was coming from a League / Union background.

Skill level was much more intense than any of the codes except soccer, where it is on a par.
The hardest thing to get used to were the shepards, and not the pretty cleansed AFL type shepards, but the lower lever mid 80's elbow to the head type shepard.

Very hard to play, but fantastic to watch.

As for Vautin ansd Sterling. Greatest game in the world my fat @rse!!!! Why? Because Johns kicks a goal from the sideline? So what. Their hyperbole was so typically prohocial and smacked of the usual inferiority complex RL commentators and supporters seem to always carry.

 

[I_LUV_AFL]

I stand corrected, St.Helens DO play BAFL or what ever they call it (couldn't they come up with a better name then British AUSTRALIAN Football League?)

How come the competition has halved from last year to this year from 8 teams to 4?

 

[dj21]

Originally posted by Tutaki
I stand corrected, St.Helens DO play BAFL or what ever they call it (couldn't they come up with a better name then British AUSTRALIAN Football League?)

How come the competition has halved from last year to this year from 8 teams to 4?

There are three competitions. Four teams in the regional comp, 6 in the london comp and a reserves comp for the london teams.

As for the name of the league (BARFL) i don't see any problem with having the name of the sport in there. It's like saying why have the name of a british private school in NRL.

 

[noodnuts]

my experince of union is carrying a blokes ear off the pitch after it was bitten off in a scrum. that was rough.....this is the only game where maiming and disfiguring people is considered a macho act.

 

[Richoagain]

Originally posted by Tutaki
I stand corrected, St.Helens DO play BAFL or what ever they call it (couldn't they come up with a better name then British AUSTRALIAN Football League?)

How come the competition has halved from last year to this year from 8 teams to 4?

It actually grew this year by two extra senior clubs (Reading and Doncaster) - they split the regional clubs and the London clubs into different leagues (except the Sussex lads, who play in the London premiership).

The clubs outside London are mostly Brits, whereas the London clubs are half/half Aussies expats and locals. As the regional clubs were getting sick and tired of being belted by 20 goals every week, the BARFL decided that development would be easier if they were in a division of their own.

Nest year there should be 6-8 teams in the regional, with East Midlands, Birmingham and Swindon looking good to enter the league, plus maybe one other in Cardiff or Peterborough.

But this all belongs in a different forum. Check out the 'International Footy' for news about Australian Rules Football outside Oz, plus huge amounts of bitching about the AFL's management

 

[syphon]

Originally posted by Mark Rudd
Oh yes, just ignore me. I'm a victorian born and bred and have played AR many a time.

Oh yes I wouldnt know would I?




Seriously, AR lovers are always trying to get their game into the same league(no pun intended) as RL for toughness. Forget it. Doesnt even come close.


"ooh, ooh, we get tackled from all directions. Oooh ooh!"


So there are no side tackles or tackles from behind in RL? Happens twice as much in one game than it would in 10 in AR.


You guys are a joke.

oooh oooh, we had a player who got a cut to the head, oooh oooh. look how tough we are!!

from the last bulldogs v sydney game, you had stuart maxfield who got just as bad a cut as that bloke, and he had it stitched and went back out to play. also wade skipper from that game suffered a punctured lung and broken ribs but you don't go hearing people making a big song and dance about it.

 

[Michigan]

Personally i think all 3 of Australia's main footy codes are tougher than the others in certain area's

although i think overall RL is the toughest i have alot of respect for AFL and RU players because any of our codes are very tough and very demanding. AFL is more demanding in the fitness aspect, they need to run alot more than players of the other 2 codes

 

[TigerCraig]

As I've kind of said here before, league is the intrinsically toughest.

That is, assuming no foul play, every one playing within the rules there is the most chance of not being able to get out of bed the next morning.

 

[Brian]

Dont tell the mothers that Craig .!